Lack of sex can lead to extinction

I, Science 22 November 2005
Link

NOVEMBER: Asexual organisms can reproduce rapidly and initially prosper ahead of their sexually active relatives. But new research suggests that these benefits may be confined to the short term.

The work was carried out on the P. marneffei fungus, which is dangerous to people with weakened immune systems, such as AIDS patients. The researchers found that although spores were able to travel far and wide, they were unable to adapt to new environments. Without sex, there is no mixing of genes and therefore no adaptation.

One of the authors, Dr Bill Hanage, concluded: "While becoming asexual may provide short term advantages to a species, in the long term they are likely to end up in evolution's ultimate dustbin : extinction."

Readers should note that this work was done on fungus, and humans should not be worried about facing extinction if they are currently experiencing a "dry spell".